Realizing a Mistake
by btvscharmedgirl
Summary: GKM Fill: Shelby takes matters into her own hand when Rachel shows up on her door step. Warning contains non-sexual parental spanking. Heed the warning.


Realizing a Mistake

Hello to all who are reading this. This story is a fill for Glee Kink Meme. A mild prompt for GKM, but one non-the-less. This is a non-sexual spanking fic. Let me know what you think\.

**The prompt:**

**Rachel is surprised to find herself at a party hosted by kids from school. She's even more surprised to find that she agrees to a few drinks. She has a few, but not enough to get her drunk. She is seen drinking by the cops when they show up to shut down the party. They decide to escort her home and tell her parents as a warning. Rachel, not wanting to get into trouble with her fathers, gives the police Shelby's address and she is delivered to her mother's house. Shelby plays along for the police, but when they leave she figures out that she's being used by Rachel to stay out of trouble. This brings up all of the issues in their relationship. Rachel tries to leave but Shelby decides to punish the girl herself proving that she can be a mom to Rachel and that Rachel really does need her.**

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Shelby awoke and groggily looked around her bedroom. Her gaze fell onto the beautiful eight month old who was sleeping peacefully in her crib, and then wondered what the hell had woken her up, and then she heard it. A loud knocking on her front door. She looked at her clock and wondered who the hell was knocking on her door at one-thirty in the morning. She knew she had to get up before the loud banging woke Beth up.

When she opened the door up, she was surprise to she estranged eldest daughter standing there, wearing a pair of jeans that were clearly too long for her, (as they were rolled up at the bottom), a pair of doc Martins, and a blood red button down shirt with a black tank top showing through where the button were open. She may not have spent a lot of time with Rachel, but she knew that Rachel would never wear something like this, unless it was for a Glee project. Rachel's dress apparel and sudden appearance wasn't even shocking thing Shelby was seeing. She was far more surprised to see a female officer standing behind her with her hand on Rachel's shoulder. She shook off her surprise quickly.

"I sorry to wake you up," the officer said. "I'm Officer Smith, are Shelby Corcoran?"

"Yes I am," Shelby replied.

"And is this your daughter?" Officer Smith asked.

"Yes. Rachel is my daughter," Shelby replied confused. How did the officer know that she was Rachel's mother?

"Ma'am, may we step inside for a moment?" Officer Smith asked.

"Oh, yeah. Sorry. Please come in," Shelby said, and moved away form the door. "Can you please explain what is going on?"

"My partner and I were called out to break up a party, and found Ms. Berry here drinking a beer, along with a few of her friends. We are issuing verbal warnings to all of the parents, and allowing them to decide what the appropriate punishment should be."

Shelby was about to ask why Rachel was brought to her instead of her fathers, but then saw the pleading look Rachel was giving her. She realized that Rachel had told the officer to bring her there. Playing along she said, "Thank you. I appreciate you giving her a pass on this indiscretion."

"Your welcome, but please be warned that this will not happen if she gets caught drinking underage again."

"Don't worry Officer, this will never happen again," Shelby said sweetly. "Right Rachel?"

"Yes, it will never happen again. Thank you very much," Rachel replied.

"Good night," Officer Smith said, and then left.

Shelby closed the door behind her, and then turned to face Rachel, who was standing by the couch wearing a sheepish look.

"Thank you for covering with the Officer," Rachel said.

"Do not thank me yet Rachel. I want to know what is going on. Starting with why you are here and not at home with your fathers."

Rachel hadn't expected Shelby to question her about that. Maybe it was just the few beers that Santana had given her, but she thought that Shelby would just let her go after the officer left. "Um, I don't have to explain anything to you. Your not my mom, remember," Rachel said before she filter her thoughts, surprising herself at the anger behind the words.

"It is my business when a cop brings me a fifteen year who has been drinking," Shelby said. "I want some answers, so that I can explain this to your fathers."

Fear crossed Rachel's face. "No you can not tell them."

"Oh, and why can't I tell?" Shelby asked, with a raised eyebrow.

"Because I'll get in trouble," Rachel said softly.

Well at least now she understood why Rachel was here instead of at her fathers. "Let me see if I have this right," Shelby said. "You went to a party, had a few beers, and got caught. To avoid getting in trouble, you told the officer my name and address, thinking that I would let it slide. Am I correct?"

Rachel looked down at her feet, and meekly said, "Yeah."

"So what I want to know is why you thought that I would let this slide, and not call your fathers?" Shelby asked.

"Because you don't care about what happens in my life," Rachel said.

"That is where you are wrong Rachel. I love you and I do care about what happens in your life," Shelby said.

"No you don't. If you did then you wouldn't have left me," Rachel yelled.

"Keep you voice down," Shelby said sharply. "Beth is sleeping in the other room."

"Oh yes, we can't wake up your precious baby. The one you chose over me," Rachel snarled.

Shelby took a step closer to Rachel, and grabbed her chin, forcing Rachel to look into her eyes. "I did not choose Beth over you. I left because you do not need me. You have both of you fathers, and having me in your life will only complicate things."

"No it won't," Rachel said, pushing away Shelby's hand.

"Yes it will," Shelby said. "It is complicating thing right now. You used me to get out of trouble with your fathers. You are playing us against each other. This is why I left, because I couldn't be a mother to you with out messing up your relationship with them."

"Ya know what," Rachel said, and then yelled, "I don't give a shit, anymore."

Shelby was momentarily shocked that Rachel had just swore at her, but shook it off when Rachel moved passed her towards the front door. She quickly grabbed Rachel's arm and pulled her back. "Where do you think you are going?"

"Any where, but here," Rachel yelled.

"Rachel, do not yell at me. This is the last time I am warning you," Shelby said. She hadn't seen this side of Rachel before. She was so angry at her, and it made her start to rethink her previous decision to get to know Rachel from afar. May the selfless act she had done, was really a selfish one. She thought that Rachel didn't need her like a baby would, but she was beginning to see that Rachel was literally screaming for Shelby to pay attention to her. Maybe she had just let her fear of being a bad mother to a teenager get in the way of what was right in front of her.

When Rachel yelled, "I will yell all I want. You don't want to be my mom, remember. So you have no right to tell me what to do," Shelby snapped. It was a split second decision, but she felt that it was the right one. She grabbed Rachel's elbow, and started to pull the struggling girl toward a small hall way. At the other end was an open door way, with a baby gate across the bottom.

"Shelby, where are taking me?" Rachel asked, suddenly fearful of what her surrogate mother was going to do to her.

"We're going to finish this discussion downstairs where you can't wake up your sister," Shelby replied, and did not even realize that she had called Beth, Rachel's sister.

Rachel was shocked when Shelby had said that. It was the first time that whole night that she had said something that truly made Rachel feel like Shelby's daughter.

Shelby led Rachel down the stairs, and into the furbished basement. There were two doors off to the left, and a washer and dryer off to the back, but the rest of the large basement was made into a second living room. Shelby made Rachel sit on the couch, and then sat down on the cherry oak coffee table.

"Alright, you want me to be your Mom, fine," Shelby said. "This is me being your mom, listening to you as you explain everything that happened tonight."

Rachel's spirit floored. She could not believe that her mom had just said that she was her mom, or that she was about to have a real mother-daughter talk. Boy did it make her happy though. Unfortunately she failed to realize that this kind of a talk usually resulted in a form of punishment.

"Okay, where should I start?" Rachel asked, trying very hard to hide her excitement from her mother.

"At the beginning," Shelby said. "How did you end up at that party?"

"Um, I was spending the night at Santana's house. Both of her parents were scheduled to work the night shift at the hospital, and us Glee girls were using her house as our practice base. We have a group project for Glee Club this weekend. Anyway, Mike text Quinn, Brittany, and Santana that there was a party going on tonight, and they convinced us all to go with them. I was extremely surprised that they had invited us and had not simply ditched us, so I agreed to go. We had been there for a while before the police officers came and broke up the party."

"Okay before we get into that. I want to know how many drinks you had," Shelby said.

Rachel gave Shelby a guilty look. "I had three beers, and Santana gave me a shot of something. I can't remember what it was."

"Which one is Santana?" Shelby questioned.

"Santana is the latina, who has a tall blonde practically attached to her pinky finger," Rachel said.

Shelby nodded her head, and then asked, "Is she the one who got you to drink?"

"Well she was the one who gave them to me, but she didn't make me drink them. I did that all on my own. I was actually surprised when I notice that the first can was empty. Then Santana handed me a new one and I figured that I might as well. It is a normal high school experience, and since I am going to become a Broadway Superstar, then it is something that I should experience."

'Oh she was good,' Shelby thought, but she was better. After all she had played the very same card when she had gotten caught drinking, and she had been two years older then Rachel. That experience was a reason why she wasn't going to let this slide.

She decided to ignore Rachel's Broadway excuse, and moved onto the reason why Rachel was here instead of at her fathers' house. "After the cops broke up the party, what happened?"

"Well, all of us girls had stuck close together at the party. Quinn had said something about safety in numbers. Most of the other party goers were able to escape, but us Glee girls had been sitting in a little sitting room. Officer Smith made us breath into a breathalyzer. We all had been drinking so she separated us up between her and another police officer, and then she asked for our parent's name and address."

"And you gave them mine," Shelby stated. "Why?"

Rachel shrugged her shoulders and the meekly said, "I didn't want to get into trouble with my dads."

"Why did you think that I wouldn't do anything about this?" Shelby asked, still utterly confused by her daughter's thoughts.

Rachel remained silent. She didn't want to tell her the real reason why she thought she wouldn't do anything, but she also couldn't think of a good lie.

"Rachel Barbra Berry, I asked you a question, and I expect an answer," Shelby said in a very motherly tone, which sent a trickle of fear down Rachel's spine.

"I was hoping that your guilt would stop you from doing anything about this," Rachel replied quickly.

"My guilt," Shelby said dumbly. "You think that I feel guilty for leaving you, and that I wouldn't do anything about tonight, to try and elevate some of that guilt?"

Rachel nodded her head yes, and in that moment Shelby knew that she had made a mistake almost nine month's ago. To an outsider that comment could be taken as a simply case of teenage arrogance, but to Shelby it practically screamed 'I need you mom.' In a way that Shelby could not ignore this time.

Rachel did not understand that Shelby just wanted the best for her, and that she had thought she didn't know how to give that to her, other then being away from her. Other then letting her fathers be her only parents, and not complicate thing with her presence, even though she had already said it to her several times. But the biggest thing that Rachel didn't know, was just how right she was. She really did need her mom in her life yet.

"You are right Rachel," Shelby said.

"I am?" Rachel asked dumbfounded.

"Yes you are," Shelby replied. "I am feeling guilty about how I handled thing last spring, but that does not give you the right to use it against me like this. Would you play this game with your fathers?"

"No," Rachel mumbled, looking very guilty.

"No you wouldn't. So what makes you think that it is okay to play this game with me?" Shelby asked.

"Nothing," Rachel grumbled.

"That's right, nothing," Shelby said. Well that takes care of that part of the lecture, no to get on with the rest of it. "Rachel I want to remind you that you are only fifteen, and that you still have several years to go until you are legally allowed to drink alcohol. I know that it is hard to resist temptation, trust me I know. I've been exactly where you are right now, and that is also how I know that you are too young to drink. Drinking is dangerous if you aren't careful. You could drink too much, and get alcohol poison. You could get into somebody's car who is drunk, and get into a car accident, or somebody could take advantage of you and get you to sleep with them. Or worse somebody could try and rape you, and you would be too drunk to fight him off."

Realization sunk into Rachel's mind. She hadn't thought of any of those scenarios, which is so not like her. She was always careful about everything she did. Always did research before she partook in anything, and yet she had drank that first beer without giving it a second thought.

Shelby could see that Rachel understood what she was talking about, so she decided to move onto the next part of her lecture. "I understand that you are upset with me over leaving you, but that does not give you the right to yell at me in my home, especially not at one in the morning with an eight month old sleeping in the next room. Now I gave you several warnings and you continued to do it."

"I'm sorry, Shelby," Rachel said, honestly. "About everything."

"I know you are," Shelby said, and then moved from the coffee table to the couch, on Rachel's left side. She took a moment to ready herself for what she was about to do. She had never spanked anyone before, let alone her own daughter. She had had plenty of them growing up, including the time she had been brought home by a cop for drinking at a party. It had hurt like hell, but the very next day she had thanked her mother for doing it. It would seem odd, and she probably would not have done it if best friend hadn't of died that night from alcohol poison. She had found out the next day, and as she cried into her mother's shoulders, with her bottom still hurting no less, she had thanked her for trying to teach her a lesson.

Shelby knew that this was exactly how Hiram and Leroy would have handled the situation, and that they not only would approve of her doing it, but also would have encouraged her to do it. Not long after Shelby had adopted Beth, Leroy and Hiram called her, to try and get her to reconsider her decision. She had said no, and explained to them why she had come to the decision in the first place. They had understood, but that didn't stop them from trying to get her to change her mind. After that the Berry men called her every week to keep her updated on Rachel's life, and of course get her to change her mind, but she was stubborn.

Right after school had started Shelby had gotten a call from the Berry men, who were still livid over Rachel sending an exchange student to a crack house on purpose. Shelby had asked what they had done, and they replied that they had spanked her. Which is the reason Shelby knew that Rachel's fathers would be fine with her spanking Rachel.

She also knew that this would change things between her and Rachel. No matter what, after she did this she had to accept her role in Rachel's life as her mother. If she could get through this, it would prove to her that Rachel really did need her, and that she could be a mother to Rachel. It was a huge step for her to take though. One that she needed a minute to prepare for.

"Shelby, are you going to call my dads now?" Rachel asked. Internally preparing herself for the punishment she was sure was going to come when she got home. The very reason she had found herself on Shelby's doorstep.

"No," Shelby said, hesitantly, and then more firmly said, "I will call your fathers after..." She couldn't finish the sentence, because her throat suddenly became very dry.

"After what, Shelby?" Rachel asked confused.

Shelby swallowed noticeably, took a deep breath, and then in the most parental tone she could muster said, "After we are finished with your punishment."

Rachel paled at hearing the word punishment, but then relaxed. What was she going to do? Spank her. Rachel was sure that what every punishment she was about to receive was going to be a cake walk. After all, Shelby had never parented a teenager before. The closest she had ever come to that was her students, and then she had been limited on punishments for them. Still she had to play it cool. She didn't want to give Shelby another bad thing to tell her dads. "Punishment?"

Shelby braced herself for the next part, and then firmly said. "Yes. I'm going to give you a spanking."

Rachel did a double take. She could have sworn that she heard the word 'spanking' come out of Shelby's mouth. Yep she had. "You can't do that," Rachel sputtered.

"Yes I can, and that is exactly what I am going to do," Shelby said.

"But...but...but...My fathers will not like this," Rachel said, hoping that a mention of her fathers would stop this from happening. It was lame, but it was all that she could think of.

"Rachel, you and I both know that this is exactly what would have happened had you told the cop where you live, instead of here," Shelby said.

"I do not know that. My fathers don't spank me anymore," Rachel lied.

"Do you want to add lying to the list of reasons you are getting this spanking, because I know for a fact that you got spank less then two months ago for sending a girl to a crack house."

"How do you even know about that?"

"I have my ways of knowing these kinds of things," Shelby dismissed.

"Fine, I lied," Rachel huffed. "Why not just call my dads and let them do my punishment?"

"Because it was my doorstep you were delivered to, my house that you decided to yell in, even after I warned you not to, and it is you who wanted me to step up and be your mother. So I am," Shelby said. She then grabbed her daughter's arm and tried to pull her over her lap, but Rachel was resisting. "Come on Rachel. Please do not make this any harder then it has to be."

"But I don't want you to spank me. Please don't," Rachel pleaded.

"No, this is happening. So get over my lap," Shelby said, and then firmly pulled Rachel over her lap. She adjusted her daughter so that she had good access to her bottom, and then quickly landed a hard swat right in the center on Rachel's jean covered bottom.

Rachel cried out, more from shock then the actual spank, and threw her hands back to protect her butt. Her mom had actually just spanked her.

Shelby moved the hands, and then landed another swat onto Rachel's denim covered bottom. This time on her left cheek, followed quickly by another swat on the opposite cheek. She then paused and said, "Rachel, I want to impress the seriousness of this situation. Drinking at your age is no laughing matter." Ant with that said, she started up a pace of even hard swats. She may not have given out a spanking before, but she sure as hell remembered getting her butt spanked by her mother. That was enough for her to know what to do.

Rachel was in shock that her mother was spanking her, but in a way it made her heart soar. Shelby was doing a very motherly thing right now. She actually cared enough to punish her, and punish she was. Holy crap was her butt starting to hurt, and she still had her jeans on. God she hoped that Shelby wasn't going to bare her for the rest of the spanking like her fathers did.

While Rachel praying that Shelby wasn't going to bare her, Shelby was thinking that she had delivered a nice warm up. She stopped the spanks and reached in between her legs and her daughters hips, and undid the girl's pants.

"No please don't," Rachel cried out, and threw her hands back to hold her pants firmly in place. "Please don't pull my pants down."

Shelby swatted away Rachel's hand, as she said, "They are coming down, and every second I fight with you on this is another swat added to this spanking."

Rachel relented but only because she wanted this over as quickly as possible.

Shelby pulled Rachel's pants down to her knees, bring her underwear down with them. Rachel flinched when she felt the cool air, on her already sore bottom. Both of her cheeks were a light hue of red, with a few blotches of a darker red.

Shelby placed her had on Rachel's lower back, and resumed her spanks. She rained down the spanks harder and quicker then before. She wanted Rachel to remember this lesson, because she never wanted to get a call from the Berry men telling her that Rachel had died of alcohol poisoning. Never!

Shelby had only landed a few swats before Rachel started to kick, and try to get away from her mother's punishing hand. Shelby wrapped her arm around the girl's waist, and held her firmly.

"Ow, please, Shelby. Please no more," Rachel cried, and kicked her legs more frantically. She was grasping onto Shelby's pajama bottoms for dear life, so she wouldn't throw them back again. "Please, please, please, no more. OW! OW! Please, Mom, no more."

Shelby's heart broke in two when she heard her daughter's desperate pleas, and she had nearly stopped the spanking when she heard Rachel call her Mom, but she stood her ground. She was almost finished, she just wanted this to be a lasting impression on her. One that she was sure to feel for days.

"Ow, please, Shelby," Rachel cried. "I'm sorry. Please I'm sorry. I promise I won't drink again. Ever!" Rachel couldn't take it no more, and she threw her hands back to protect her but. "Please Mommy. No more."

Shelby knew that Rachel was at her end. So moved Rachel's hands, and hooked her leg over Rachel's, holding them in place. Then landed ten more hard swats quickly onto her daughter's bare red butt. She had to ignore Rachel pleas, and how she cried out every time a swat landed, but she did it and now it was over.

Rachel was slumped over her lap, sobbing away like there was no tomorrow. She hadn't even realized that her mom had stopped spanking her, until she felt soothing circles being rubbed onto her butt and back.

Rachel scrambled off of her mother's lap the second she realized the spanking was over, and stared at the older women for a minute. Then just a suddenly as she had gotten off, she was back on again. Only this time with her butt facing down. Well out really, because she had gotten onto Shelby's lap with her sitting more on her hips. She threw her arms round her mother's neck, and continued to sob into Shelby's shoulder.

Shelby held Rachel in her arms for nearly half an hour, before the girl's cries subsided. Rubbing soothing circles onto her back, and whispering that it was okay, and that it was all over now, into Rachel's ear. It was easily the second hardest thing Shelby had ever done, topped only by the day she gave birth to Rachel, and had to give her up. It hurt her to hear her baby cry, and even more so knowing that she was the reason her baby was crying. The tried as hard as she could to keep her emotions in check. She had spanked her for the right reasons, and if Rachel saw her crying, she might think that she regretted doing it.

Rachel fell asleep in Shelby's arms, and that's when Shelby stood up and carried Rachel into one of the spare bedrooms. She laid the girl on her stomach, and got a good look at how red her daughter's bottom was. She would definitely be feeling that for at least a day.

She pulled Rachel's panties back up, and then took off her shoes and pants. She pulled a clean throw blanket out of the closet, and threw it over her. She bent down and placed a tender kiss onto Rachel's forehead, before whispering, "I love you."

She watched Rachel sleep from the doorway for a few minutes, before making her way back upstairs. She went into her bedroom to check on Beth, and then went back out into the living room. As she flipped through her contacts, she finally let the tears loose.

The phone had only rung three times before a gruff, "Hello," came through the line.

"Leroy? It's Shelby," she said shakily.

"_Shelby it's three o'clock in the morning_," Leroy groggily stated, and then hears Shelby sniffle. "_Is everything alright Shelby_?"

"Yes and no," Shelby replied. "Rachel is here with me."

"_What!_" Leroy exclaimed. Then she heard him waking Hiram up. "_Shelby you're on speaker_."

"_Why is Rachel there with you, and how did she get there_?" Hiram asked.

Shelby managed to tell them the event's of the night right up until the spanking, before she really let go of the tears.

"_Shelby, if Rachel is fine, then why are you so upset_?" Leroy asked.

"Because I spanked her," Shelby said.

"_So you are feeling guilty that you gave her a spanking?"_ Hiram asked confused. "_Because you shouldn't. That is exactly what we would have done too. In fact we probably would have told you to do it if you had called earlier."_

"I know," Shelby said. "I'm not feeling guilty about giving her the spanking."

"_Your upset, because it was the first time you've had to do that, and it is an overwhelming feeling to here your child cry, and know that it was your fault_," Leroy summed up.

"Yeah. Does this feeling ever go away?"

"_No. It hurts like hell every time we've given her a spanking, but it always does her some good. We wouldn't do it if it didn't. Welcome to the downside of parenting,_" Hiram replied.

"_Shelby, does this mean that you've finally come to your senses_?" Leroy asked. "_She needs you, just as much as she needs Hiram and I_."

"I know. I realized that tonight, and I plan on making my mistake up to her," Shelby said.

"_How did Rachel take you spanking her_?" Hiram asked.

"Good, I think. She didn't put up much of a fight, and after she got off of my lap she practically jumped back into my arms to be comforted," Shelby replied.

"_That's good. That means she accepted it. She wouldn't have did that if she was still being defiant_," Leroy said. "_You're going to have your hand full tomorrow with her though. Rachel is very clingy after a spanking._"

"Wait, you want her to stay here tomorrow?" Shelby asked, surprised, but happy at the notion.

"_Yes," _Leroy said. "_You and Rachel need time to work through all of this, and like I said, Rachel is very clingy after a spanking. There is no way she is going to leave your side for the next day or two._"

"_In fact, why don't Leroy and I come and take Beth for the day. That way you'll have the entire day with just Rachel, and then we'll bring Beth back after dinner," _Hiram suggested.

"_Yeah, it will give us a chance to get to know Rachel's little sister," Leroy said, excitedly._

"I don't know. Beth hasn't been around anybody but my family yet," Shelby said, but then realized that if Leroy wasn't kidding, she would have to very clingy daughter to deal with a once. "Okay. That sounds like a great idea. I'll see you in the morning."

"_Goodnight Shelby_," Both of the Berry men replied.

Shelby sat on the couch for a few minutes before getting up to check on Beth again, before heading back downstairs to check on Rachel. Her beautiful daughter was curled up in the fetal position. Shelby heard the sniffling as soon as she entered the room. She went over and crawled into the bed and spooned small teen, being mindful of the girl's sore backside.

She said nothing, instead opting to hold Rachel. She knew that it would be enough for the night. When Shelby thought that Rachel had fallen back asleep again, she tried to slip out to go back to bed, but Rachel gripped her arm, and softly said, "Please stay."

"Sure sweetie," Shelby said, and then gave Rachel a tender kiss on her head.

"I love you, mommy," Rachel said softly, before drifting off to sleep again.

Shelby's heart soared again. Four little words pushed all of the doubts she still felt about their relationship right out the door. She knew that she had made the right decision tonight, and she was determined to be the best damn mom to Rachel. "I love you too," she said, and then drifted off into a peaceful sleep.


End file.
